KOTA KINABALU: A state Cabinet minister's statement that the Sabah government would consider including ethnic Bugis and Javanese, as Sabah natives is not a policy stand of the ruling Parti Warisan Sabah, says Warisan secretary-general Loretto Padua.
Padua said the statement by Law and Native Affairs minister Datuk Aidi Moktar (centre) to consider including the two ethnic groups under the Sabah native definition was his personal view and not that of the party or the government.
"Aidi is free to express his views. As far as Warisan is concerned, the issue has never been discussed within the party at any time," he said Saturday (Feb 2) after a firestorm over the issue was stirred on social media.
Padua said Aidi had not consulted any party leaders on the issue before he said the state government will study the definition of Sabah natives to include Bugis and Javanese, who are not listed natives.
Sabah opposition leader Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said the state government must stick to the constitutional definition of natives of Sabah.
He said Aidi's statement was a knee-jerk reaction and sounded ridiculous as his basis was that the Bugis and Javanese were in North Borneo (Sabah) before independence.
"The Chinese and Indians were also here long before independence. Is he suggesting that they too be considered natives?," he asked.
Dr Jeffrey said that Bugis are natives of Sulawesi, while the Javanese are native to Java and not Sabah.
"At the most and to be fair, those who were in Sabah who got married to the natives before independence can be considered for native status," he added.
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